“SFS helped widen my aperture for just how much is out there in the world,” says Max Zhang (SFS’23). “It’s changed the scope of the goals I have and the kind of future I want to build.”
As a business and global affairs major with minors in English and philosophy, Zhang has used his time on the Hilltop to transform his personal and career paths through his classes, travel experiences, mentors, and an extensive list of extracurricular activities. He did not come to Georgetown with the intention of pursuing his current fields of study, but the school’s interdisciplinary nature helped him to explore the unknown possibilities that existed. 
In The Classroom
“I really wanted to be part of a field of learning that would be totally novel to me, that would challenge my basic understanding of the world—and business and global affairs fundamentally did that for me,” says Zhang. The Dikran Izmirlian Program in Business and Global Affairs is a new joint degree from the School of Foreign Service and McDonough School of Business. It is a four-year sequence of engaging, interdisciplinary courses developed for this program and co-taught by the faculty of both schools.
Throughout his time as an SFS student, Zhang also valued the self-awareness and growth that is characteristic of so many of his peers. “I’ve felt very supported by microcommunities of students equally as interested as myself in surfacing the hidden violences of the world and being part of the project to reconcile with and put a stop to these harms. I’m most supported in spaces where we both celebrate each other and hold each other accountable.”
Zhang pursued Mandarin as his language of study, which helped to further cultivate the holistic aspects of his SFS learning. “I took four semesters of Mandarin, which encouraged me to lean into my ethnic and cultural background, as well as attain a deeper working proficiency with the language.”
While taking classes within his major, Zhang was exposed to a variety of thought-provoking subjects which became important shaping forces in his learning. One of these was his Proseminar, Policy & Strategy, with Professor Keith Hrebenak. Another was Detouring the Global City, a Culture and Politics class taken with Professor Shiloh Krupar. Zhang says, “‘Detouring’ retooled my conception of how the world is constructed, placing a new critical light on neoliberalism and asking me to contest with challenging theoretical traditions.”
A variety of mentors and role models shaped Zhang’s path as well, from his thesis advisor, Shiloh Krupar, to professors ranging across each of his fields of study. One important figure has been Dr. Mario Ramirez, Professor of the Practice in the McDonough School of Business and managing director of the Izmirlian Program in Business and Global Affairs. “[He] has been a core pillar in my major, time and time again creating such valuable space for myself and my peers to be stewards of our own academic paths. He’s also just been a great comfort and source of advice when it’s been highly needed.”
Zhang also had the opportunity to bring his classroom learning across the globe through the cohort trips the program offers. He specifically notes that his immersive trips to places such as the Dominican Republic and Ghana “complicated [his] existing conceptions of development and colonialism.”
Making a Home
In making a home at Georgetown, Zhang found ESCAPE retreats to be a manifestation of his core values. He says, “Building communities where students feel the freedom to speak authentically about themselves and their experiences, to lean into and allow vulnerability as a connective tissue, was so generative and healing for me, too.” As an ESCAPE leader for two years, Zhang had the opportunity to participate in over 10 ESCAPE retreats and build community with other leaders of the program and the participants, jointly cultivating an atmosphere of warmth, trust, and love.
On campus, Zhang also participated in a variety of organizations ranging from his role as editor-in-chief of the Georgetown Voice as well as the Georgetown Independent, to chair of the Philodemic Society’s Committee on Slavery, Memory, and Reconciliations. He was also the student coordinator for Georgetown Opportunities for Leadership Development (GOLD), and a regular representative on the business and global affairs curriculum committee.
Beyond tackling global affairs, Zhang immersed himself in the arts scene at the university and was named a Lannon Fellow in 2021. He describes this fellowship as a “hidden gem” of Georgetown, encouraging students of all backgrounds to apply. He names a variety of reasons that demonstrate how important the fellowship has been to him, including that it offers “access to world-renowned poets, a space to build your craft, [and] a community of fellow writers deeply interested in your success and your growth as a creative.” Zhang explored other avenues of artistic expression through open mics, theater productions, poetry readings, and student performances.
Beyond the Hilltop
When stepping outside of Georgetown, Zhang has found a few special spots that have made his DC experience even more valuable. “The botanical gardens constitute one of my favorite DC locations! Also high praise for Lost City Books in Adams Morgan, the Dupont Circle [location of] Emissary, the Dumbarton Oaks Gardens just a few blocks from campus, the Anacostia Community Museum, and the Tenleytown Michael’s craft store.”
After graduation, Zhang will be working at one of the U.S. government’s newest agencies and America’s development bank, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).
Final Reflections
Zhang reflects on his time on the Hilltop “with pride, kindness, and humility, not just nostalgia. College was such a sandbox for me on so many levels—and I hope I look back on it so proud of the relationships I built and the work I did but also with gentleness as I contested so intimately with what it meant to be a student, a friend, a confidant, and a human being.”
He leaves other students with this advice: “Lean in! Lean into curiosity, to opportunities, to your instincts and your hopes. So much gets lost by our fear of what’s over the next ledge that we don’t even take the time to look. Nearly every leap I took made itself worth it in the end, and in some ways I wish I had leaned in even more than I did.”